La Belle et la Bete
by Midoriri
Summary: While Kai waits for Jill to come down to his shop, he remembers some special moments they had together. Also, Jill has an important question. JillxKai, because there's not enough of those...


_They had met each other in the summer, when he always arrived. He had seen her on the last day of Spring, as she walked out of the farming grounds and stopped when she saw him talking to May and Popuri. He smiled reassuringly at her, and she came up to him slowly._

_"Hey there," he said, sticking out his hand to shake. "I don't think you were here last year."_

_The girl didn't take his hand; she just shook her head, biting her lip. "Are you Kai?" she asked, whispering._

_Kai blinked. Crap. Someone had obviously spoken to her about him, no doubt telling her he was bad. For some reason, all the men in the town, save for Carter, thought he was a bad person…"Yes."_

_"I've heard of you…"_

_Of course she had to hear about him…_

_"Listen," he said, near desperate. "I'm not a bad person, I swear."_

_The girl stared at him. _

_"Are you friends with Rick?"_

_The girl nodded._

_Of course she was, Kai thought. "Um, I run the little shack on the beach in Summer. You're welcome to come eat."_

_The girl smiled faintly and nodded. "That'd be great. The inn never has pizza or ice-cream."_

_"I have those!" Kai smiled. "So, I'll see you late then." He waved and walked toward the beach._

_"Um, Kai!" Kai turned around, and saw the girl, her blonde hair hanging straight down. "My name is Jill…"_

_"Okay, then Jill! See you later!"_

**PBPBPBPB**

Kai smiled at the memory. A few days later, Jill had actually come down to his shop. She wanted something to eat, and he had given it to her. She sure loved pizza…

From that day forward, she had come down every day to eat something. It seemed alright, until one day…

**PBPBPBPB**

_Rick stormed off, leaving a bewildered Kai standing alone on the beach. Rick had come down to the beach, just to chew him out about his little sister, Popuri. Why shouldn't he talk to her? Kai wondered. He thought Popuri was a sweet girl. She was always so cheerful, and never judged him harshly. He liked being with Popuri._

_But it wasn't like he wanted to marry her or anything like that…Rick always had to go insane when he saw Popuri and Kai together._

_Rick was so angry, he almost ran into Jill, who had come down to the beach for her lunch as usual. Rick stopped and took her by the shoulders._

_"Jill! What are you doing here!?" he whispered. He didn't seem to realize that Kai could still hear him._

_Jill was just as confused. "I'm only here to eat," she said. "Kai lets me come down here for my meals when he's open. You should try some," she continued, eyes brightening._

_"Jill! I'm telling you, you shouldn't go to that place anymore!"_

_"Why not?" Jill looked over Rick's shoulder at Kai, confused. "Kai's a cool guy. He's really nice, and-"_

_Rick sighed and released Jill. "I'm just giving you a warning, okay? He's not a good person. He just comes here to bug everybody."_

_"He doesn't bug me," Jill said, but Rick had already left the beach in a huff._

_Jill turned to Kai, bewildered. "Kai, did he say anything to you?"_

_Kai shook his head. "The usual stuff. He thinks I'm a bad guy, like everyone else does-"_

_He was stopped by Jill knocking her knuckles against his head. "Don't you dare!" she said, some of that fire that Kai liked coming into her eyes. "You're forgetting a few people, you know that?"_

_Kai rubbed the spot where Jill hit him. She was a sweet girl, like Popuri, and she liked to eat, but when she was upset, she got a little fire in her. It showed in her eyes, and it came out of her form in outbursts of tiny rage every now and then. Kai had laughed when she told him of how she had smacked Thomas, the mayor, with a hammer when she had first come to the farm._

_"I'm sorry, okay?" he said. "Just don't hit me again."_

_Jill smiled. "You sound like Mayor Thomas," she laughed. "Can I have some pizza?" she asked._

_Kai had given her two slices instead of one that day, and had shared his popcorn recipe with her. He felt closer to her now…_

**PBPBPBPB**

And then he had accidentally let slip his childish nature, the side that rarely came out…

**PBPBPBPB**

_"Jill, how are you doing?" he asked as Jill came to the counter with her money._

_"I'm fine," Jill smiled. She leaned in close and whispered something. "Tell me, Kai, when's your birthday?"_

_"My birthday?" Kai blinked. "It's, um, the 22nd of Summer…today. Why?" he asked, slightly suspicious. _

_"Well…ta-da!" Jill laughed and whipped out a wrapped gift from her rucksack with a flourish. "Open it, open it!" she said, hopping up and down like a little girl._

_"I am, I am…" Kai laughed and tugged at the ribbon. It fell open easily and he started to tear the paper. He snuck glances at Jill, who was still wiggling with excitement and smiling like a child._

_The paper fell apart and the box was open in a few seconds. Kai looked inside and his expression brightened. "Oh, wow, it's a pineapple!" he cried, taking it out carefully. "I love pineapples!"_

_Jill laughed and Kai caught himself. He started to blush. "I…really like these, is all. I guess you weren't expecting me to say I LOVE something, right?"_

_"Everyone loves something," Jill said. "It's not unusual at all."_

_Kai smiled and his blush deepened. "Thanks," he said._

**PBPBPBPB**

Kai looked at his watch as he stood behind the counter. It was ten minutes until noon. Jill should be coming in to get her lunch soon.

He sighed and leaned against the counter. Jill was his only regular. She was his friend since the day she first came down to the snack shack, and had seen him for who he really was, not what the boys said he was.

Manna had helped in Jill's judgment. Apparently, Manna had said Kai was a good boy. That had made him happy.

Jill made him happy…

Jill frowned, remembering that one day…

**PBPBPBPB**

_"Jill! Hi!" Kai called, waving to her as she slowly made her way down the beach, head hung, hair blocking her view. She looked up, smiling weakly._

_"Hey, Kai," she said quietly._

_Kai's smile faded as he took another look at his friend. "Hey, Jill, are you okay?" he asked. He placed his hand on her shoulder to steady her. She looked a little off-balance that day._

_"I'm fine, Kai," she said, shaking his hand away. "I'm just a little tired…"_

_Kai reluctantly accepted this explanation. He sat back down on the bench. Jill stood in front of him. "My shop doesn't open in about an hour," he said, looking at his watch. "You're early."_

_"Yeah," Jill said weakly. "I wanted to say hi, and stuff…wanted to see you…" Jill swayed, eyes closing._

_"Jill?" Kai stood up in a hurry._

_Jill groaned softly as she fell to the ground, her fall broken by Kai catching her, his arm around her mid-back. "Jill? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" He shook her gently. She didn't respond, except to groan a little more. Kai felt her forehead. She was burning hot…_

_"Don't worry, Jill," he told her as he lifted her up, bridal-style. "We're going to the clinic!"_

_"Don't wanna shot…" she mumbled, mostly unconscious._

_"You won't get one," he reassured her as he quickly went toward the clinic, moving as fast as he could without dropping her._

_As he made his way deeper into town, he gritted his teeth and prayed Rick didn't see this. Knowing Rick, he would assume the worst and go frickin' bonkers at the sight of Kai carrying a girl through town, and an unconscious one at that._

_Finally, he arrived at the clinic, sending a silent prayer to the Harvest Goddess that it was open. He braced his back against the door, opening it, and carefully went inside without hitting Jill's head._

_Elli looked up from her work, and yelped. "Kai! You've got…"_

_"This isn't what it looks like," Kai said, panting slightly. "Jill's fainted!"_

_The Doctor came out in time to hear this. "What happened?"_

_"She went to my shop, and we were outside, and she just fell over. She fainted."_

_"Give her to me," the Doctor commanded._

_Kai (reluctantly, he noticed with surprise) gave Jill to the Doctor and shook his arms slightly. Jill was kind of heavy…_

_"Wait out here, and I'll tell you when you can see her," the Doctor told him as he disappeared into the other room._

_Kai sank into a chair in the waiting room, Elli eyeing him sympathetically. "You care about her, don't you?"_

_Kai nodded. "She's been very kind to me…she didn't judge me right away like most of the others did…" He covered his eyes with one hand. "Oh, Goddess, I hope she'll be okay…" he said softly._

_After what felt like hours but according to the clock was only twenty minutes, the Doctor emerged and beckoned Kai toward him. "She's awake now," the Doctor said. "It seems the hot weather made her collapse. She's been working all day, and the hot sun combined with that work was a little too much today."_

_"That was all?" Kai asked, relieved._

_The Doctor smiled and nodded. "You can go talk to her if you want," he said, going to the other room to give them privacy._

_Kai went inside. Jill was laying down in a bed, covers pulled up to her chin, a window open and little fn going off. "Doctor wants me to be cool," she laughed weakly. "Be cool. It sounds like something a gangster wannabe says to his friends, huh?"_

_Kai smiled at her as he sat in a chair. "You feeling any better?"_

_"Little…"_

_"Great," he said._

_Jill turned away. "He says I have to stay over night…and I left my horse outside…"_

_Kai patted her hand under the blanket. "I can go to your farm and put him back in his stable, if you like."_

_"Great," Jill said, her face brightening considerably. "He's really easy to handle, all you have to do is give him an apple and he'll be your friend for life."_

_Kai let out a sigh of relief. "At leas it won't be too difficult," he said, making Jill laugh._

_"Oh, I almost forgot," he said, reaching into his pocket. "I wanted to give this to you, but…you know…"_

_"What is it?" asked Jill, intrigued._

_Kai proudly held out a shell on a string, surrounded by little beads. "It's a good luck charm," he announced. "I got it from another city I stayed in for a season. It'll keep bad spirits away, and protect you." He smiled and unclasped it, leaning over to re-clasp it around her neck. "It's better late than never, eh?" he chuckled._

_Jill smiled, cheeks pink for some reason. "Thanks, Kai…"_

_"Ahem," the Doctor said from the doorway. "Sorry, Kai, but Jill needs to rest now. She needs to fully recover if she wants to work tomorrow."_

_"I can't stay all day tomorrow!" protested Jill. "I've got five chicken and three cows and a sheep, not to mention Beast, the horse!"_

_Kai laughed at her expression._

_The Doctor twitched his lips into a smile. "Then I suggest you get to sleep so you can work tomorrow."_

_"Okay…" complained Jill, rolling over, moving the necklace so as not to crush it._

_Jill had been right, Beast was easy to handle once you fed him an apple. Kai led him toward the stable, holding him by the reins, talking to him about his mistress. "She's a character, she is," he said fondly. His expression turned sad as he realized that in a week, he would return to another city, and leave this one behind. "I'm really going to miss Jill, you know?" he asked the horse. The horse only nickered at him._

_"Yeah, that's great advice," Kai said sarcastically. _

_As he was returning to his shack, he caught himself thinking about her some more. He put a hand to his forehead as he tried to explain away his strange feelings. "She's just a close friend to you," he said. **Yeah,**__his inner voice said. **That's why you gave her that necklace. **_

_"That was a good luck charm," protested Kai aloud._

_**You like Jill, you like Jill, you really, really like her…**the voice teased him._

_"Be quiet, you!" Kai knocked a fist lightly against the side of his head._

_But the voice was right, he realized as he sat in his snack shop, noticing with some sadness that Jill would not be eating in his shop that night._

_What was happening to him…?_

**PBPBPBPB**

Kai saw the calendar. Damn, he had only ten days left. He noticed that, after that incident with Jill, he was actually counting the days of the year. Spring, Fall, and Winter were days until he saw Jill again. Summer was either how many more days he could enjoy her company, or how many days until he left. He was never happy to count those latter days. The former days were great, and the former-former were excruciating.

He saw the clock. Ten minutes.

**PBPBPBPB**

"_Hey, Kai!" Jill laughed, grabbing his dark hand in her light one. "I wanna ask you something!"_

_"When's my birthday?" Kai smirked, remembering that day._

_"No, I know your birthday!" Jill laughed. "Ann just told me something cool!"_

_"Ann tells everyone something cool," teased Kai. "And Manna always gossips, and Basil talks about plants, and Rick talk about me…"_

_"Quit it!" Jill scolded playfully. Kai noticed happily that she still wore his necklace. "Ann found a karaoke machine in her attic!"_

_Kai didn't like where this was going…_

_"And she's posted a little memo on the bulletin board that tonight's a karaoke night! After she told me, that is," Jill continued. "I thought we could go sign tonight!"_

_"You want me to sing?!" Kai asked, nervously. _

_"Yeah!" Jill nodded enthusiastically. "Your shop's closed today, so we can go! Please, Kai?" she asked, looking into his eyes. "Please? It'll be so much fun…."_

_Kai looked into her eyes for a second before sighing, defeated. "Fine…" he said._

_"Really?" Jill perked up, like a puppy. "You mean it!?"_

_"Yeah…I'll be embarrassed, but yeah…"_

_"Oh, thank you so much, Kai!" she cried, kissing his cheek. "I'll see you there! And don't worry, to make up for it, I'll give you ten pineapples tomorrow!"_

_Jill raced away, to get home and finish work. Kai still felt her kiss on his cheek…_

_At six o'clock they, and the rest of town, of course, were in the end. Jill had waved him over to her table near the counter, with her friends Mary, Elli, Cliff, Popuri and Rick. Kai hesitated to go there, seeing Rick, but he finally walked over and sat down, next to Jill, two seats away from Rick._

_Rick shot him a death-glare. "Rick, don't you dare!" said Jill and Popuri at the same time._

_Jill turned to Kai. "I'm glad you could make it," she said, as if she hadn't pleaded with him earlier, as if she had simply handed him a memo. "Karen's first up, and she's good!"_

_Karen smiled cheerfully under a little spotlight as she sang out the lyrics. _

_**"My stone heart was breaking/ my love ran away/ this moment I knew I would be someone else/ my love turned around and I fell…"**_

_Jill hummed along to the chorus, as did a few other girls._

_**"Be my bad boy/be my man/be my weekend lover/ but don't be my friend…"**_

_Popuri smiled. "I'm gonna have this song play at my wedding."_

_Rick spat out his drink. "Excuse me!?" he asked._

_"What? I love this song."_

_"But the song's about leaving someone…about getting over the guy, not falling for him…"_

_"But she finds another guy!"_

_While brother and sister argued over the meaning behind the lyrics, Karen sang on. When she finished, she did a little bow and walked off-stage to sit with Rick. Ann took the mic. "That was Karen, everybody! She sang beautifully, didn't she?"_

_The crowd cheered. A few boys yelled "It's about me!" making Karen laugh._

_Ann smiled. "Oh, I'm not so sure," she giggled. She faced the audience. "Who's next?"_

_Next came Mary, singing so quietly everyone had to strain to hear her. When it was over, she handed the mic over in a hurry and raced off, past Jill's table and straight to Gray and Saibara. "Poor girl…" Elli said sympathetically._

_After about an hour of more singing, some good (Manna), some bad (Won), some childish and adorable (May and Stu) and some drunk…(Duke), Ann was announcing there was time for one more song. _

_"Who hasn't sang yet?!" she called, scanning the crowd. When no one came forward, she stomped her foot in exasperation. "Come on, you guys! I was hoping everybody'd sing! Come on!"_

_Kai stood up suddenly. "Can I try?!" he asked, loud enough so all could hear him._

_Rick spat out his drink for the second time that night._

_Ann smiled with relief. "Oh, sure…Come on up."_

_"I just have one question!" Kai continued. He took a deep breath, and went on. "Can people sing in duets?"_

_Ann blinked. "Um…Dad?" she asked. Doug nodded to her. Ann turned back to face the new singer. "Yeah, of course."_

_This was met with a few outbursts of anger as some said that if they had known that ahead of time, they would have sang with their lover or spouse. Ann held up a hand for quiet. "You should have known about karaoke rules. Duets are accepted. It's your own fault for not asking first." She turned to face Kai. "Who would you like to sing with?" she asked._

_Kai lifted his hand to point…at Jill. Jill jumped in her chair, face red. "Me?" she squeaked. Kai smiled at her, offering a hand to help her out of her chair. He smiled down at her as she took it. "You invited me here, and I think you should sing…that's the point of karaoke, isn't it?"_

_Ann smiled as she gave another mic to Jill while Kai took the one offered. "Ladies and gentlemen, Kai and Jill!" she announced as she walked off to the side, leading the audience in applause. _

_Jill looked at Kai out the corner of her eye. "Kai, what are you…?"_

_Kai whispered a song in her ear. Jill's face turned pinker. "You want us to sing…?"_

_Kai nodded as he stood slightly away from Jill and let her sing._

_Jill nervously looked forward and took a deep breath. **"Tale as old as time…" **Several people straightened in their seats as they recognized the song and tune._

_Jill swallowed and continued, starting to relax. **"True as it can be…Barely even friends, then somebody bends…unexpectedly…"**_

_Kai smiled and held his mic to his mouth, singing the next part. **"Just a little change…" **A few girls whistled and cheered here, but whether it was because of the song, or because Kai actually sang wonderfully was unknown. **"Small to say the least…both a little scared, neither one prepared…"**_

_Jill, completely at ease by now, joined him for the next lines. "**Beauty and the beast…**_

_**Ever just the same**_

_**Ever a surprise**_

_**Ever as before**_

_**Never just as sure**_

_**As the sun will rise…**_

_Jill smiled as they took a little break for the music._

_**Ever just the same**_

_**Ever a surprise**_

_**Ever as before**_

_**Never just as sure**_

_**As the sun will rise…**_

"_**Tale as old as time…" **sang Jill**. "Tune as old as psalm…"**_

"_**Bitter-sweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong..." **(Some swore Kai directed that at Rick…)_

"_**Certain as the sun" sang Kai. Jill echoed his last few words.**_

"_**Rising in the east…tale as old as time…song as old as rhyme…beauty and the beast…**_

"_**Tale as old as time…"**_

"_**Song as old as rhyme…"**_

_Both were singing the last part together now**…"Beauty and the beast…"**_

_Jill exhaled deeply as Ann retrieved both microphones, clapping furiously at the same time. "Kai and Jill, Beauty and the Beast, everyone! I'll leave it up to you to decide who's who," Ann winked to the laughing audience._

_Rick was still eyeing Kai suspiciously as they sat back down. "Okay, what are you-?"_

_"Rick, quiet!" hissed Popuri, kicking him under the table. She winked to the other people at the table as she mouthed "In love…"_

_Kai offered to help Jill home that night. As they walked, side by side, neither made eye contact, both blushing slightly._

_"Kai," asked Jill. "Are we really…y'know…like a beauty and a beast?"_

_"Dunno," Kai said noncommittally. "I…don't know…never thought about it…"_

_"Well, if we were, it'd be odd to wonder who the beauty was and who the beast was…"_

_"Yeah," Kai nodded. He decided to change the subject. "How'd you like Karen's song, by the way?"_

_Jill smiled. "It's one of my favorites, actually."_

_Kai laughed. "A lot of girls like it…I wonder who's going to win the wedding argument?" he mused._

_Jill smiled as they walked, the silence broken as Kai found himself humming the song. He suddenly stopped and his upper body seemed to freeze, when he felt Jill leaning against him. She smiled. "Hey, Kai…be _my_ bad boy?"_

_Kai paused and looked away, smiling faintly as his arm slowly inched its way around Jill's shoulders._

**PBPBPBPB**

That was when they had become more than friends. Kai actually found himself saying that Jill was always free to come away to the other cities with him, but he knew she couldn't. She had her farm, after all. And then, after that, he would find himself wanting to stay in Mineral Town, to be with Jill and see her all year…

He checked the clock. Noon.

Jill walked in, right on schedule, and hands in her overall pockets, facing the floor. "Hey, Kai," she said, with a slight stammer.

Kai bent down to look up into her face. "Jill, are okay?" he asked. "You're not going to faint again, are you…?"

Jill bit her bottom lip. "I might…" she whispered.

"To the Clinic!" Kai shouted.

"No, it's okay," Jill said, shaking her head. She shifted her hand in her pocket. "Kai…we've known each other for a while…"

"Yeah…"

"And…I, uh, wanted to…give you this…" Jill held out something and gently dropped it onto Kai's counter.

Kai looked down.

A blue feather. A marriage proposal.

"Jill, you-?!"

Jill, blushing like mad, nodded.

Kai felt his face heat up as he looked from the feather to Jill. "Jill…"

"You don't have to!" Jill hastily told him. She looked up, red, to see Kai holding the feather in his hands, moving away from the safety of the counter and standing directly in front of her. He was smiling.

Then he leaned down and kissed her. "Yes…"

**PBPBPBPB**

The wedding was held one week later. They had invited their closest friends, meaning Jill had chosen some friends, and Kai either backed her up or suggested someone else. This meant that all the guests on Jill's list made it in.

Jill had also wanted to invite Popuri, Lillia, and Rick, but was afraid to because of Rick. Kai told her they could if she wanted. In the end, she didn't. Which Kai thought was fine with him.

(He had to admit, it was hilarious when Rick showed early one morning up to check on a chicken and saw Kai asleep in Jill's bed. Poor guy nearly had a heart attack.)

Carter smiled at the two. "You may now kiss the bride," he said.

Kai obliged, and promised his new wife he would make her happy…

"Now play the song 'Bad Boy!'" called Popuri from the pew.

"No!" Lillia scolded her.

**PBPBPBPB**

**One Year Later…**

**PBPBPBPB**

Kai paced nervously, eyes on the floor, trying unsuccessfully to block the sounds of Jill's cries. He paused, looking toward the bedroom. Elli poked her head out. "It's okay," she reassured him.

"But she's in pain!" Kai protested.

Elli shook her head. "Comes with the territory," she said sympathetically as she went back in. Jill was screaming louder.

"Come on, Jill, you can do this…"

"**_I'm gonna die!"_**

"No, you're not, now come on…"

**_"It hurts….!!"_**

****Kai continued his pacing. In a few more minutes, he heard the final scream. **_"KAI!"_**

****And then someone was crying…someone small.

Kai finally stopped pacing, eyes facing the room again. Elli poked her head out and smiled. "It's a girl," she announced. "Mommy and Baby are fine!"

Kai felt his heart swell when he saw Jill and a baby. The baby was tanned in color, with dark hair from her daddy, blue eyes from her mommy.

Jill looked up to see Kai. "Hi," she whispered.

Kai chuckled, brushing a hand over her cheek and gently stroking his baby. "Hi," he whispered.

"A name?' asked the Doctor.

Kai looked to Jill. "I'm not good with girl names," he confessed.

Jill laughed weakly. "Aolani…" she whispered.

"Hey, there, Aolani," Kai said to the tiny girl.

**PBPBPBPB**

That night, Baby Aolani slept in the bed with Kai and Jill. She was sound asleep…as was her mother.

Jill slept facing her husband, Kai facing his wife, arms wrapped around her waist to hold her close. Jill shifted her head against his chest…

Kai closed his eyes to sleep. "I love you…"

**Belle et la bette…**

**Okay, I think that's good enough for a story. Phew….that took about three hours to write…my hand hurts!**

**I was actually listening to a few songs for background and inspiration…"Bad Boy" by Cascada, and Celine Dion's version of "Beauty and the Beast," both in English and in French (which, BTW, you have GOT to hear, it's so dang pretty!)**

**I guess that's enough for now…ow….**


End file.
